Enhanced carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for enhanced carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocols are described. In various implementations, these systems and methods may be applicable to Power Line Communications (PLC). For example, a method may include attempting to access a communications channel to transmit a frame after a backoff time proportional to a randomly generated number within a contention window (CW), the CW having an initial value carried over from a previous transmission of a different frame. Additionally or alternatively, some of techniques described herein may facilitate the spreading of the time over which devices attempt to transmit packets, thereby reducing the probability of collisions using, for example, Additive Decrease Multiplicative Increase (ADMI) mechanisms.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/526,761, which is titled “AdditiveDecrease Multiplicative Increase—CSMA/CA” and was filed on Aug. 24,2011, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/535,603, whichis titled “Efficient Contention Window (CW) Management Using Return toMaximum CW” and was filed on Sep. 16, 2011, the disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are directed, in general, to communications, and, morespecifically, to enhanced Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)protocols.

BACKGROUND

There are several different types of communication networks availabletoday. For example, power line communications (PLC) include systems forcommunicating data over the same medium (i.e., a wire or conductor) thatis also used to transmit electric power to residences, buildings, andother premises. Once deployed, PLC systems may enable a wide array ofapplications, including, for example, automatic meter reading and loadcontrol (i.e., utility-type applications), automotive uses (e.g.,charging electric cars), home automation (e.g., controlling appliances,lights, etc.), and/or computer networking (e.g., Internet access), toname only a few.

For each different type of communications network, differentstandardizing efforts are commonly undertaken throughout the world. Forinstance, in the case of PLC communications may be implementeddifferently depending upon local regulations, characteristics of localpower grids, etc. Examples of competing PLC standards include the IEEE1901, HomePlug AV, and ITU-T G.hn (e.g., G.9960 and G.9961)specifications. Another PLC standardization effort includes, forexample, the Powerline-Related Intelligent Metering Evolution (PRIME)standard designed for OFDM-based (Orthogonal Frequency-DivisionMultiplexing) communications.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods for enhanced Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA)protocols are described. In an illustrative embodiment, a method mayinclude attempting to access a communications channel to transmit aframe after a backoff time proportional to a randomly generated number(K) within a contention window (CW), the CW having an initial valuecarried over from a previous transmission of a different frame. Themethod may also include, in response to: (i) reaching a predeterminednumber of attempts without having obtained access to the communicationschannel, or (ii) having transmitted the frame over the communicationschannel upon the expiration of a backoff time without having received acorresponding acknowledgement, increasing the CW and attempting toaccess the communications channel to transmit or re-transmit the frameafter another backoff time proportional to another K within theincreased CW.

In some embodiments, increasing the CW may include doubling the CW up toa value smaller than or equal to a maximum CW value. For example, themethod may include doubling the maximum CW value in response to anaverage CW over a predetermined number of previous attempts to accessthe communications channel being greater than a first threshold, and/orhalving the maximum CW value in response to the average CW over thepredetermined number of previous attempts to access the communicationschannel being smaller than a second threshold different from the firstthreshold. In some cases, the first threshold may be equal to themaximum CW value divided by 2, and the second threshold may be equal tothe maximum CW value divided by 4. Additionally or alternatively, themethod may include doubling the maximum CW value in response to anaverage K over a predetermined number of previous attempts to access thecommunications channel being greater than a first threshold, and/orhalving the maximum CW value in response to the average K over thepredetermined number of previous attempts to access the communicationschannel being smaller than a second threshold different from the firstthreshold.

In some cases, the method may include, in response to the backoff timereaching a maximum backoff time value, resetting the CW to a minimum CWvalue. Moreover, the method may include, in response to (i) havingtransmitted the frame over the communications channel upon theexpiration of the backoff time, or (ii) having transmitted the frameover the communications channel upon the expiration of the backoff timeand having received a corresponding acknowledgement, decreasing the CW,and attempting to access the communications channel to transmit anotherframe after yet another backoff time proportional to yet anotherrandomly generated number within the decreased CW. For example, themethod may include linearly decreasing the CW to a value greater than orequal to a minimum CW value.

After a predetermined number of attempts to access the communicationschannel with the CW set to a minimum CW value, the method may includesetting the CW to a maximum CW value. Further, after a predeterminednumber of attempts to access the communications channel, the method mayinclude setting the CW to a minimum CW value.

In another illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, a communicationsdevice may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor,the memory configured to store program instructions executable by theprocessor to cause the communications device to perform one or moreoperations. For example, the device may attempt to access acommunications channel to transmit a frame after a backoff timeproportional to a randomly generated number within a CW having aninitial value carried over from a previous transmission of a differentframe, decrease the CW in response to having transmitted the frame overthe communications channel upon the expiration of the backoff time, andattempt to access the communications channel to transmit another frameafter another backoff time proportional to another randomly generatednumber within the decreased CW.

In some implementations, to decrease the CW, the communications devicemay decrease the CW to a value greater than or equal to a minimum CWvalue. Additionally or alternatively, to decrease the CW, thecommunications device may use a logarithmic decreasing function, aquadratic decreasing function, or a polynomial decreasing function.After a predetermined number of attempts to access the communicationschannel with the CW set to a minimum CW value, the communications devicemay set the CW to a maximum CW value.

In yet another illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, a non-transitoryelectronic storage medium may have program instructions stored thereonthat, upon execution by a processor within a communications device,cause the communications device to perform one or more operations. Forexample, the communications device may attempt to access acommunications channel to transmit a frame after a backoff timeproportional to a randomly generated number within a CW having aninitial value carried over from a previous transmission of a differentframe, and then: (a) increase the CW and attempt to access thecommunications channel to transmit the frame after another backoff timeproportional to another randomly generated number within the increasedCW in response to (i) a determination that the communications channel isnot available upon expiration of the backoff time or (ii) a transmissionof the frame over the communications channel upon the expiration of thebackoff time not being followed by a corresponding acknowledgement; or(b) decrease the CW and attempt to access the communications channel totransmit another frame after yet another backoff time proportional toyet another randomly generated number within the decreased CW inresponse to a transmission the frame over the communications channelupon the expiration of the backoff time being followed by thecorresponding acknowledgement.

In some cases, to increase the CW, the communications device mayincrease the CW to a value smaller than or equal to a maximum CW value,and, to decrease the CW, the communications device may decrease the CWto a value greater than or equal to a minimum CW value. Moreover, thecommunications device may double the maximum CW value in response to anaverage CW over a predetermined number of previous attempts to accessthe communications channel being greater than the maximum CW valuedivided by 2. Additionally or alternatively, the communications devicemay halve the maximum CW value in response to an average CW over thepredetermined number of previous attempts to access the communicationschannel being smaller than the current maximum CW value divided by 4.Moreover, in response to the backoff time reaching a maximum backofftime value, the communications device may reset the CW to a minimum CWvalue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention(s) in general terms, reference willnow be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a PLC system according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a PLC device or modem according to someembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a PLC gateway according to someembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a PLC data concentrator according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a prior art CSMA technique.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an Additive Decrease Multiplicative Increase(ADMI) CSMA technique according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for adaptively updating a maximumcontention window (“maxCW”) according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are graphs of the ratio of standard deviation over meanof transmissions per node and average throughput, respectively,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an integrated circuit according to someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention(s) now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings. The invention(s) may, however,be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, andwill fully convey the scope of the invention(s) to a person of ordinaryskill in the art. A person of ordinary skill in the art may be able touse the various embodiments of the invention(s).

In various embodiments, the systems and methods described herein may beapplicable to a wide variety of communication environments, including,but not limited to, those involving wireless communications (e.g.,cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMax, etc.), wired communications (e.g., Ethernet,etc.), Power Line Communications (PLC), or the like. For ease ofexplanation, several examples discussed below are described specificallyin the context of PLC. As a person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize in light of this disclosure, however, certain techniques andprinciples disclosed herein may also be used in other communicationenvironments.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an electric power distribution system is depictedaccording to some embodiments. Medium voltage (MV) power lines 103 fromsubstation 101 typically carry voltage in the tens of kilovolts range.Transformer 104 steps the MV power down to low voltage (LV) power on LVlines 105, carrying voltage in the range of 100-240 VAC. Transformer 104is typically designed to operate at very low frequencies in the range of50-60 Hz. Transformer 104 does not typically allow high frequencies,such as signals greater than 100 KHz, to pass between LV lines 105 andMV lines 103. LV lines 105 feed power to customers via meters 106 a-n,which are typically mounted on the outside of residences 102 a-n.(Although referred to as “residences,” premises 102 a-n may include anytype of building, facility or location where electric power is receivedand/or consumed.) A breaker panel, such as panel 107, provides aninterface between meter 106 n and electrical wires 108 within residence102 n. Electrical wires 108 deliver power to outlets 110, switches 111and other electric devices within residence 102 n.

The power line topology illustrated in FIG. 1 may be used to deliverhigh-speed communications to residences 102 a-n. In someimplementations, power line communications modems or gateways 112 a-nmay be coupled to LV power lines 105 at meter 106 a-n. PLCmodems/gateways 112 a-n may be used to transmit and receive data signalsover MV/LV lines 103/105. Such data signals may be used to supportmetering and power delivery applications (e.g., smart gridapplications), communication systems, high speed Internet, telephony,video conferencing, and video delivery, to name a few. By transportingtelecommunications and/or data signals over a power transmissionnetwork, there is no need to install new cabling to each subscriber 102a-n. Thus, by using existing electricity distribution systems to carrydata signals, significant cost savings are possible.

An illustrative method for transmitting data over power lines may use,for example, a carrier signal having a frequency different from that ofthe power signal. The carrier signal may be modulated by the data, forexample, using an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)scheme or the like.

PLC modems or gateways 112 a-n at residences 102 a-n use the MV/LV powergrid to carry data signals to and from PLC data concentrator 114 withoutrequiring additional wiring. Concentrator 114 may be coupled to eitherMV line 103 or LV line 105. Modems or gateways 112 a-n may supportapplications such as high-speed broadband Internet links, narrowbandcontrol applications, low bandwidth data collection applications, or thelike. In a home environment, for example, modems or gateways 112 a-n mayfurther enable home and building automation in heat and airconditioning, lighting, and security. Also, PLC modems or gateways 112a-n may enable AC or DC charging of electric vehicles and otherappliances. An example of an AC or DC charger is illustrated as PLCdevice 113. Outside the premises, power line communication networks mayprovide street lighting control and remote power meter data collection.

One or more data concentrators 114 may be coupled to control center 130(e.g., a utility company) via network 120. Network 120 may include, forexample, an IP-based network, the Internet, a cellular network, a WiFinetwork, a WiMax network, or the like. As such, control center 130 maybe configured to collect power consumption and other types of relevantinformation from gateway(s) 112 and/or device(s) 113 throughconcentrator(s) 114. Additionally or alternatively, control center 130may be configured to implement smart grid policies and other regulatoryor commercial rules by communicating such rules to each gateway(s) 112and/or device(s) 113 through concentrator(s) 114.

In some embodiments, each concentrator 114 may be seen as a base nodefor a PLC domain, each such domain comprising downstream PLC devicesthat communicate with control center 130 through a respectiveconcentrator 114. For example, in FIG. 1, device 106 a-n, 112 a-n, and113 may all be considered part of the PLC domain that has dataconcentrator 114 as its base node; although in other scenarios otherdevices may be used as the base node of a PLC domain. In a typicalsituation, multiple nodes may be deployed in a given PLC network, and atleast a subset of those nodes may be tied to a common clock through abackbone (e.g., Ethernet, digital subscriber loop (DSL), etc.). Further,each PLC domain may be coupled to MV line 103 through its own distincttransformer similar to transformer 104.

Still referring to FIG. 1, meter 106, gateways 112, PLC device 113, anddata concentrator 114 may each be coupled to or otherwise include a PLCmodem or the like. The PLC modem may include transmitter and/or receivercircuitry to facilitate the device's connection to power lines 103, 105,and/or 108.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of PLC device or modem 113 according to someembodiments. As illustrated, AC interface 201 may be coupled toelectrical wires 108 a and 108 b inside of premises 112 n in a mannerthat allows PLC device 113 to switch the connection between wires 108 aand 108 b off using a switching circuit or the like. In otherembodiments, however, AC interface 201 may be connected to a single wire108 (i.e., without breaking wire 108 into wires 108 a and 108 b) andwithout providing such switching capabilities. In operation, ACinterface 201 may allow PLC engine 202 to receive and transmit PLCsignals over wires 108 a-b. As noted above, in some cases, PLC device113 may be a PLC modem. Additionally or alternatively, PLC device 113may be a part of a smart grid device (e.g., an AC or DC charger, ameter, etc.), an appliance, or a control module for other electricalelements located inside or outside of premises 112 n (e.g., streetlighting, etc.).

PLC engine 202 may be configured to transmit and/or receive PLC signalsover wires 108 a and/or 108 b via AC interface 201 using a particularchannel or frequency band. In some embodiments, PLC engine 202 may beconfigured to transmit OFDM signals, although other types of modulationschemes may be used. As such, PLC engine 202 may include or otherwise beconfigured to communicate with metrology or monitoring circuits (notshown) that are in turn configured to measure power consumptioncharacteristics of certain devices or appliances via wires 108, 108 a,and/or 108 b. PLC engine 202 may receive such power consumptioninformation, encode it as one or more PLC signals, and transmit it overwires 108, 108 a, and/or 108 b to higher-level PLC devices (e.g., PLCgateways 112 n, data concentrators 114, etc.) for further processing.Conversely, PLC engine 202 may receive instructions and/or otherinformation from such higher-level PLC devices encoded in PLC signals,for example, to allow PLC engine 202 to select a particular frequencyband in which to operate.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of PLC gateway 112 according to someembodiments. As illustrated in this example, gateway engine 301 iscoupled to meter interface 302, local communication interface 303, andfrequency band usage database 304. Meter interface 302 is coupled tometer 106, and local communication interface 304 is coupled to one ormore of a variety of PLC devices such as, for example, PLC device 113.Local communication interface 304 may provide a variety of communicationprotocols such as, for example, ZIGBEE, BLUETOOTH, WI-FI, WI-MAX,ETHERNET, etc., which may enable gateway 112 to communicate with a widevariety of different devices and appliances. In operation, gatewayengine 301 may be configured to collect communications from PLC device113 and/or other devices, as well as meter 106, and serve as aninterface between these various devices and PLC data concentrator 114.Gateway engine 301 may also be configured to allocate frequency bands tospecific devices and/or to provide information to such devices thatenable them to self-assign their own operating frequencies.

In some embodiments, PLC gateway 112 may be disposed within or nearpremises 102 n and serve as a gateway to all PLC communications toand/or from premises 102 n. In other embodiments, however, PLC gateway112 may be absent and PLC devices 113 (as well as meter 106 n and/orother appliances) may communicate directly with PLC data concentrator114. When PLC gateway 112 is present, it may include database 304 withrecords of frequency bands currently used, for example, by various PLCdevices 113 within premises 102 n. An example of such a record mayinclude, for instance, device identification information (e.g., serialnumber, device ID, etc.), application profile, device class, and/orcurrently allocated frequency band. As such, gateway engine 301 may usedatabase 304 in assigning, allocating, or otherwise managing frequencybands assigned to its various PLC devices.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a PLC data concentrator according to someembodiments. Gateway interface 401 is coupled to data concentratorengine 402 and may be configured to communicate with one or more PLCgateways 112 a-n. Network interface 403 is also coupled to dataconcentrator engine 402 and may be configured to communicate withnetwork 120. In operation, data concentrator engine 402 may be used tocollect information and data from multiple gateways 112 a-n beforeforwarding the data to control center 130. In cases where PLC gateways112 a-n are absent, gateway interface 401 may be replaced with a meterand/or device interface (now shown) configured to communicate directlywith meters 116 a-n, PLC devices 113, and/or other appliances. Further,if PLC gateways 112 a-n are absent, frequency usage database 404 may beconfigured to store records similar to those described above withrespect to database 304.

Generally speaking, prior to transmitting a signal across power lines orwires 103, 105, and/or 108, a PLC device may attempt to detect whether agiven communication or access channel (e.g., frequency band) iscurrently in use. Channel access may be accomplished, for example, byusing the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance(CSMA/CA) mechanism with a random backoff time. The random backoffmechanism may spread the time over which PLC devices attempt totransmit, thereby reducing the probability of collision. In other words,each time a device wishes to transmit data frames, it may wait for arandom period. If the channel is found to be idle or free, following therandom backoff, the device may transmit its data. If the channel isfound to be busy, following the random backoff, the device may wait foranother random period before trying to access the channel again.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a prior art CSMA method that may beapplicable, for instance, to a non-beacon personal area network (PAN) asdescribed in the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. This CSMA algorithm istypically used before the transmission of data or MAC command frames,and it is implemented using units of time called “backoff periods.”

As illustrated in block 501, each device may maintain two variables foreach transmission attempt: NB and BE. Specifically, NB is the number oftimes the CSMA algorithm was required to backoff while attempting thecurrent transmission, which may be initialized to “0” before each newtransmission attempt. Meanwhile, BE is the backoff exponent, which isrelated to a number of slots (totaling the size of a “contention window”or “CW”), each slot having a number of symbols (e.g., in IEEE p1901.2and G3, each slot has 2 symbols) up to which a device may have to waitbefore attempting to access a channel (i.e., CW=2^(BE)), and which maybe initialized to the value of minBE (i.e., CW_(initial)=2^(minBE)).Thus, the method may initialize NB and BE, and then proceed to block502. At block 502, the method may create a delay for a random number Kof complete slots in the range 0 to 2^(BE)−1 (that is, within CW), andthen request that a PCS operation be performed in block 503. This delayor backoff time is given by Backoff Time=K×aSlotTime; where aSlotTime isequal to the duration of a number of symbols prescribed by a givenstandard. At block 504, if the channel is assessed to be busy, themethod may increment both NB and BE by one in block 506, while ensuringthat BE does not exceed maxBE (for high priority packets, maxBE may beequal to minBE). At block 507, if the value of NB is less than or equalto a maximum number of allowed backoffs (maxCSMABackoffs), the methodmay return to block 502. If the value of NB is greater thanmaxCSMABackoffs, however, the method may terminate, for example, with achannel access failure status or indication. Returning to block 504, ifthe channel is assessed to be idle, the method may immediately begintransmission of the frame at block 505.

As the inventors hereof have recognized with respect to the methoddescribed in FIG. 5, however, conventional CSMA techniques do notmaintain a history of CW values between transmission of differentframes, and do not adjust or modify those values as a function of thesuccess or failure of previous frame transmissions. Indeed, inconventional CSMA techniques, although CW values may be adjusted fordifferent attempts to transmit the same frame, that value is reset foreach new frame, and thus historical CW values for previous frame(s)is/are lost. Furthermore, conventional CSMA techniques also do notdynamically determine maxBE (or maxCW) or minBE (or minCW) values. Assuch, those techniques tend to create certain “unfairness” problemsand/or increase the probability of collisions. To address these andother issues, embodiments discussed herein provide techniques that,among other things, facilitate a further spreading of the time overwhich devices attempt to transmit and to thereby reducing theprobability of collisions using, for example, Additive DecreaseMultiplicative Increase (ADMI) mechanisms. Certain aspects of thesetechniques may be particularly well-suited for deployment in single-hopnetwork with a small number of devices, as well as many otherenvironments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an Additive Decrease Multiplicative Increase(ADMI) CSMA technique. In some embodiments, method 600 may be performed,at least in part, by a communications device such as described in FIGS.1-4 when transmitting a “normal priority” packet or frame. Generallyspeaking, each device may maintain three variables for each transmissionattempt: NB, minCWCount, and CW. Similarly in FIG. 5 above, here NB isthe number of times method 600 has been required to backoff whileattempting the same, current transmission. This value may be initializedto 0 after each transmission attempt. CW is the contention window foreach device. For the very first transmission attempt of the very firstframe, CW may be initialized to 2^(minBE). In some implementations, forevery channel access failure, the CW value may be increased (e.g.,doubled), and the maximum value of CW (CW_(max)) may be bounded by2^(maxBE). Upon a successful transmission, the value of CW may beadjusted as follows: CW_(new)=CW_(current)−A*2^(minBE), where “A” is alinear scaling factor. Furthermore, the value of CW may be storedbetween transmissions of different frames. That is, upon a determinationthat a given frame has been successfully transmitted, the CW may retainits value for a subsequent frame transmission (instead of beingre-initialized to 2^(minBE)).

Thus, at block 601, method 600 may initialize NB. At block 602, method600 may wait for the start of a contention window (e.g., a time during acommunication superframe during which normal priority packets may betransmitted, referred to as a “normal priority” contention window inIEEE p1901.2). Blocks 603-607 implement a fairness algorithm.Particularly, at block 603, if CW=2^(minBE), then a counter variable(minCWCount) is incremented at block 605; otherwise it is set to zero atblock 604. Then, at block 606, method 600 determines whether minCWCountis greater than a maximum allowed value (maxMinCWCount) which controlshow many times a device may use CW=2^(minBE). IfminCWCount>maxMinCWCount, then CW may be set to 2^(maxBE) (i.e., itsmaximum allowable size or maxCW) at block 607. Thus, using the mechanismof blocks 603-607, method 600 may ensure that CW only assumes itsminimum allowed value (i.e., CW=minCW=2^(minBE)) for a maximum allowednumber of times (i.e., maxMinCWCount), after which CW is set to itsmaximum allowed value (i.e., CW=maxCW=2^(maxBE)).

After blocks 606 and/or 607, method 600 proceeds to block 608, where thedevice may wait for a backoff time such that Backoff Time=K*aSlotTimeand K is a random number within CW (e.g., 0<K<(CW−1) or 0<K<CW). Atblock 609, method 900 may perform a Physical Carrier Sense (PCS)operation to determine, at block 610, whether a given communicationchannel is idle. If so, then method 600 may transmit a packet, and block614 may set CW such that CW_(new)=max(CW_(current)−A*2^(minBE),2^(minBE)). Otherwise, method 600 may increment NB at block 611, set CWsuch that CW_(new)=min(2*CW_(current), 2^(maxBE)) (i.e., it may “double”the CW while ensuring that it does not exceed 2^(maxBE)) and it maydetermine, at block 613, whether NB is greater than a maximum number ofallowed CSMA backoffs (maxCSMABackoffs). If not, then control may returnto block 602; otherwise method 600 may indicate a failure to transmitthe packet or frame.

In some embodiments, method 600 may be used to transmit a high-prioritypacket or frame by replacing blocks 603-607 with an operation setting CWto CW=2^(minBE). Additionally or alternatively, when a device operatesin multiple a tone mask mode, blocks 602-614 may be repeated for eachfrequency subband.

In sum, as noted above, a node or device may start a CSMA procedure witha CW value used in the transmission of a previous frame, and it may thengenerate a random number K between 0 and CW (or 0 and CW−1, forexample). The device may then attempt to access the channel afterK*aSlotTime duration time. If the device finds the channel to be busybefore and/or upon expiration of the backoff time, it may increase(e.g., double) its CW provided the new value is less than or equal tomaxCW (if new value is more than maxCW, the device may maintain thecurrent value of CW) and try to contend again (e.g., after waiting forthe necessary inter frame time). In some embodiments, if a device findsthe channel to be free and executes a transmission, the process may beconsidered a success without the need to receive an acknowledge packetin return. In other embodiments, however, the ACK packet may be requiredin order to the transmission to be considered a success. In those cases,if the device finds the channel to be free but it transmits the packetor frame without receiving an ACK for it (an example of a collisionscenario), the device may then repeat the same process as the case whereit failed to get access to channel. Conversely, if the device finds thechannel to be free, transmits the packet or frame, and then receives acorresponding ACK (an example of a success scenario), then it maydecrease its CW linearly by A*minCW provided the new value is greaterthan or equal to minCW (otherwise the device may maintain the currentvalue of CW).

As such, the method of FIG. 6 allows each device to increase or doubleits CW on failure due to channel access/collision, while reducing its CWvalue by A*minCW upon success as long as the resultant CW value isbetween minCW and maxCW. In some implementations, suitable values forminCW, maxCW, and A may be 8, 2⁸, and 8, respectively. Furthermore, themethod of FIG. 6 also includes a fairness mechanism that ensure anygiven machine only uses its CW a minCW for a maximum number of times(maxMinCWCount). In some cases, as another fairness mechanism, if adevice reaches a maximum backoff limit (equal to or distinct frommaxCSMABackoff), the device may reset its CW to minCW.

In some embodiments, systems and methods described herein maydynamically determine maxCW, and FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart of sucha method. Similarly as above, here method 700 may still be performed, atleast in part, by a communications device such as described in FIGS.1-4. At block 701, method 700 may keep track (e.g., in a memory) ofcurrent CW values and/or current K values. At block 702 and after Nupdates, method 700 may compute an average CW and/or K value. Then, atblock 703, if the average CW and/or K value is greater than a firstthreshold (Threshold1), method 700 may increase maxCW (e.g., it maydouble its value) at block 704. At block 705, if the average CW and/or Kvalue is smaller than a second threshold (Threshold2), then method 700may reduce maxCW (e.g., it may device its value by 2) at block 706.Otherwise, at block 707, method 700 may maintain the current maxCW valuein a subsequent transmission attempt.

In some embodiments, suitable values for N, Threshold1 and Threshold2are 1000, current maxCW/2, and current maxCW/4, respectively. Moreover,minCW may also be altered depending upon the chosen CW and K similarlyas described for maxCW. Thus, especially when used in combination withthe method discussed in connection with FIG. 6, these techniques mayprovide an additively decrease and multiplicatively increase the CWvalues, and also enable CW values to be updated based upon thesuccess/failure of previous transmissions without being changed or resetfor every packet or frame to be serviced.

It should be noted, however, that linear decrease is but one suitableexample of how to perform graceful degradation from maxCW. Othermechanisms to reduce the CW in response to successful transmission of apacket, for example, include using a logarithmic decreasing function, aquadratic decreasing function, and/or other polynomial decreasingfunction. Similarly, multiplicative increase is but one suitable exampleof how to perform a backoff (as used in exponential backoff) in responseto lack of channel access and/or collision, for example. Othermechanisms also include using a logarithmic decreasing function, aquadratic decreasing function, and/or other polynomial decreasingfunction.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are graphs of the ratio of standard deviation over meanof transmissions per node (i.e., a measure of “fairness”) and averagethroughput, respectively, according to some embodiments. Particularly,graphs 800A and 800B show results of method 600 of FIG. 6 with(“ADMI-with fairness”) and without (“ADMI-without fairness”)implementation of blocks 603-607, respectively, both of which arecompared against Binary Exponential Back-Off (BEB) technique provided bythe G3 PLC standard. As illustrated, it may be seen that although the“ADMI-without fairness” curve of graph 800A shows unfairness (heremeasured as a ratio of standard deviation and mean of transmissions pernode) compared to the BEB curve, particularly when the number of nodesis smaller than 20 (above which fairness is approximately equal),whereas the “ADMI-with fairness” curve shows similar fairness results asBEB. Meanwhile, the throughput of both the “ADMI-without fairness” andthe “ADMI-with fairness” curves in graph 800B are both significantlyhigher than for the BEB curve, particularly when the number of nodes is10 or greater.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an integrated circuit according to someembodiments. In some cases, one or more of the devices and/orapparatuses shown in FIGS. 2-4 may be implemented as shown in FIG. 9. Insome embodiments, integrated circuit 902 may be a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), asystem-on-chip (SoC) circuit, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, or the like. Integrated circuit 902is coupled to one or more peripherals 904 and external memory 903. Insome cases, external memory 903 may be used to store and/or maintaindatabases, variables, counters, etc. Further, integrated circuit 902 mayinclude a driver for communicating signals to external memory 903 andanother driver for communicating signals to peripherals 904. Powersupply 901 is also provided which supplies the supply voltages tointegrated circuit 902 as well as one or more supply voltages to memory903 and/or peripherals 904. In some embodiments, more than one instanceof integrated circuit 902 may be included (and more than one externalmemory 903 may be included as well).

Peripherals 904 may include any desired circuitry, depending on the typeof PLC system. For example, in an embodiment, peripherals 904 mayimplement local communication interface 303 and include devices forvarious types of wireless communication, such as WI-FI, ZIGBEE,BLUETOOTH, cellular, global positioning system, etc. Peripherals 904 mayalso include additional storage, including RAM storage, solid-statestorage, or disk storage. In some cases, peripherals 904 may includeuser interface devices such as a display screen, including touch displayscreens or multi-touch display screens, keyboard or other input devices,microphones, speakers, etc.

External memory 903 may include any type of memory. For example,external memory 903 may include SRAM, nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM, such as“flash” memory), and/or dynamic RAM (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM(SDRAM), double data rate (DDR, DDR2, DDR3, etc.) SDRAM, DRAM, etc.External memory 903 may include one or more memory modules to which thememory devices are mounted, such as single inline memory modules(SIMMs), dual inline memory modules (DIMMs), etc.

It will be understood that various operations illustrated in FIGS. 6and/or 7 may be executed simultaneously and/or sequentially. It will befurther understood that each operation may be performed in any order andmay be performed once or repetitiously. In various embodiments, theblocks shown in FIGS. 6 and/or 7 may represent sets of softwareroutines, logic functions, and/or data structures that are configured toperform specified operations. Although these modules are shown asdistinct logical blocks, in other embodiments at least some of theoperations performed by these modules may be combined in to fewerblocks. Conversely, any given one of the modules shown in FIGS. 6 and/or7 may be implemented such that its operations are divided among two ormore logical blocks. Moreover, although shown with a particularconfiguration, in other embodiments these various modules may berearranged in other suitable ways.

Many of the operations described herein may be implemented in hardware,software, and/or firmware, and/or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, code segments perform the necessary tasks oroperations. The program or code segments may be stored in aprocessor-readable, computer-readable, or machine-readable medium. Theprocessor-readable, computer-readable, or machine-readable medium mayinclude any device or medium that can store or transfer information.Examples of such a processor-readable medium include an electroniccircuit, a semiconductor memory device, a flash memory, a ROM, anerasable ROM (EROM), a floppy diskette, a compact disk, an optical disk,a hard disk, a fiber optic medium, etc.

Software code segments may be stored in any volatile or non-volatilestorage device, such as a hard drive, flash memory, solid state memory,optical disk, CD, DVD, computer program product, or other memory device,that provides tangible computer-readable or machine-readable storage fora processor or a middleware container service. In other embodiments, thememory may be a virtualization of several physical storage devices,wherein the physical storage devices are of the same or different kinds.The code segments may be downloaded or transferred from storage to aprocessor or container via an internal bus, another computer network,such as the Internet or an intranet, or via other wired or wirelessnetworks.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention(s) will cometo mind to one skilled in the art to which the invention(s) pertainhaving the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoingdescriptions, and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the invention(s) are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed. Although specific terms are employed herein, theyare used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: performing, by thecommunications device, attempting to access a communications channel totransmit a frame after a backoff time proportional to a randomlygenerated number (K) within a contention window (CW), the CW having aninitial value carried over from a previous transmission of a differentframe; in response to: (i) reaching a predetermined number of attemptswithout having obtained access to the communications channel, or (ii)having transmitted the frame over the communications channel upon theexpiration of a backoff time without having received a correspondingacknowledgement, increasing the CW by doubling the CW up to a valuesmaller than or equal to a maximum CW value, and attempting to accessthe communications channel to transmit or re-transmit the frame afteranother backoff time proportional to another K within the increased CW;and doubling the maximum CW value in response to an average CW over apredetermined number of previous attempts to access the communicationschannel being greater than a first threshold; or halving the maximum CWvalue in response to the average CW over the predetermined number ofprevious attempts to access the communications channel being smallerthan a second threshold different from the first threshold.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first threshold is equal to the maximumCW value divided by 2, and wherein the second threshold is equal to themaximum CW value divided by
 4. 3. A method, comprising: performing, bythe communications device, attempting to access a communications channelto transmit a frame after a backoff time proportional to a randomlygenerated number (K) within a contention window (CW), the CW having aninitial value carried over from a previous transmission of a differentframe; in response to: (i) reaching a predetermined number of attemptswithout having obtained access to the communications channel, or (ii)having transmitted the frame over the communications channel upon theexpiration of a backoff time without having received a correspondingacknowledgement, increasing the CW by doubling the CW up to a valuesmaller than or equal to a maximum CW value, and attempting to accessthe communications channel to transmit or re-transmit the frame afteranother backoff time proportional to another K within the increased CW;and doubling the maximum CW value in response to an average K over apredetermined number of previous attempts to access the communicationschannel being greater than a first threshold, or halving the maximum CWvalue in response to the average K over the predetermined number ofprevious attempts to access the communications channel being smallerthan a second threshold different from the first threshold.
 4. A method,comprising: performing, by the communications device, attempting toaccess a communications channel to transmit a frame after a backoff timeproportional to a randomly generated number (K) within a contentionwindow (CW), the CW having an initial value carried over from a previoustransmission of a different frame; in response to: (i) reaching apredetermined number of attempts without having obtained access to thecommunications channel, or (ii) having transmitted the frame over thecommunications channel upon the expiration of a backoff time withouthaving received a corresponding acknowledgement, increasing the CW by,and attempting to access the communications channel to transmit orre-transmit the frame after another backoff time proportional to anotherK within the increased CW; and in response to the backoff time reachinga maximum backoff time value, resetting the CW to a minimum CW value. 5.A non-transitory electronic storage medium having program instructionsstored thereon that, upon execution by a processor within acommunications device, cause the communications device to: attempt toaccess a communications channel to transmit a frame after a backoff timeproportional to a randomly generated number within a contention window(CW), the CW having an initial value carried over from a previoustransmission of a different frame; perform at least one of (a) or (b):(a) increase the CW to a value smaller than or equal to a maximum CWvalue and attempt to access the communications channel to transmit theframe after another backoff time proportional to another randomlygenerated number within the increased CW in response to (i) adetermination that the communications channel is not available uponexpiration of the backoff time or (ii) a transmission of the frame overthe communications channel upon the expiration of the backoff time notbeing followed by a corresponding acknowledgement; or (b) decrease theCW to a value greater than or equal to a minimum CW value and attempt toaccess the communications channel to transmit another frame after yetanother backoff time proportional to yet another randomly generatednumber within the decreased CW in response to a transmission the frameover the communications channel upon the expiration of the backoff timebeing followed by the corresponding acknowledgement; and double themaximum CW value in response to an average CW over a predeterminednumber of previous attempts to access the communications channel beinggreater than the maximum CW value divided by
 2. 6. A non-transitoryelectronic storage medium having program instructions stored thereonthat, upon execution by a processor within a communications device,cause the communications device to: attempt to access a communicationschannel to transmit a frame after a backoff time proportional to arandomly generated number within a contention window (CW), the CW havingan initial value carried over from a previous transmission of adifferent frame; perform at least one of (a) or (b): (a) increase the CWto a value smaller than or equal to a maximum CW value and attempt toaccess the communications channel to transmit the frame after anotherbackoff time proportional to another randomly generated number withinthe increased CW in response to (i) a determination that thecommunications channel is not available upon expiration of the backofftime or (ii) a transmission of the frame over the communications channelupon the expiration of the backoff time not being followed by acorresponding acknowledgement; or (b) decrease the CW to a value greaterthan or equal to a minimum CW value and attempt to access thecommunications channel to transmit another frame after yet anotherbackoff time proportional to yet another randomly generated numberwithin the decreased CW in response to a transmission the frame over thecommunications channel upon the expiration of the backoff time beingfollowed by the corresponding acknowledgement; and halve the maximum CWvalue in response to an average CW over the predetermined number ofprevious attempts to access the communications channel being smallerthan the current maximum CW value divided by
 4. 7. A non-transitoryelectronic storage medium having program instructions stored thereonthat, upon execution by a processor within a communications device,cause the communications device to: attempt to access a communicationschannel to transmit a frame after a backoff time proportional to arandomly generated number within a contention window (CW), the CW havingan initial value carried over from a previous transmission of adifferent frame; and perform at least one of (a) or (b): (a) increasethe CW and attempt to access the communications channel to transmit theframe after another backoff time proportional to another randomlygenerated number within the increased CW in response to (i) adetermination that the communications channel is not available uponexpiration of the backoff time or (ii) a transmission of the frame overthe communications channel upon the expiration of the backoff time notbeing followed by a corresponding acknowledgement; or (b) decrease theCW and attempt to access the communications channel to transmit anotherframe after yet another backoff time proportional to yet anotherrandomly generated number within the decreased CW in response to atransmission the frame over the communications channel upon theexpiration of the backoff time being followed by the correspondingacknowledgement in response to the backoff time reaching a maximumbackoff time value, reset the CW to a minimum CW value.